Sweetsong's Path
by annabellahrach
Summary: Sweetsong has been dealing with ambush in HazelClan; it's not normal for her to be flung into a river or wake up with deathberries in her mouth. With a strange omen and a single rod of wood, Sweetsong ventures far beyond Clan borders to find out the secrets of HazelClan.


_This is my first EVER warrior's fanfic, so please leave a review (feel perfectly free to throw fire, but make it helpful). Give me ideas on new characters, couples, names, and opinions, because I'd love to hear them all! Sweetsong is a young HazelClan she-cat who is struggling with strange attacks such as being flung into a river and having deathberries in her mouth as she wakes. Someone is out to get her, but who?_

_This contains:_

_-Romance (mhmmmmm)_

_-Adventure_

_-Murder_

_and a brave warrior she-cat who wants to find her place in the world. Once again, please review!_

Sweetsong slid around a thicket of tightly-knotted brambles and lifted her nose to taste the morning air. Her tufted ears were perked to the chirps of distant birds as well as the gurgling stream that swished through the gorge. Fronds of thorn-vines brushed the cream warrior's pelt as she trotted through them, stomach nearing the ground and her ears tucked back into a hunter's crouch. An uneasy scent touched her nose, but she couldn't place her paw on what it was... The thick smell of ferns washed it away. She continued with her prowl, slipping down a slope towards the river. The leaves behind her stirred as a massive body was flung at her, grabbing at her spine with two curved claws. Sweetsong tensed as she fell to the ground and unsheathed her own weapons, shoving her hind legs up at her attacker. Clumps of bloody brown and matted fur appeared under her claws as she raked her forepaws across his flank, letting out a hiss. The cat disappeared and then barreled back into her, sending her soaring over the river's rapids. With a splash, bubbles swirled around her and air was sucked out of her lungs. Her back crashed into rock as she flailed, blue eyes wide. She could see through the screen of light an outline of her attacker, but it was only a blur before her head jolted above the water. She took a quick inhale before she was shoved back under by the churning current. Sand squished beneath her toes and she used it to shove her limp body to the bank. Sputtering, her fur was plastered to her thin body and she was left shivering, air sucked from her lungs.

"Sweetsong!"

A small brown tabby tom sprinted down the hillside and landed next to her, his amber eyes frantic. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, Sparrowtail, I'm fine..." Sweetsong shook herself and began walking up towards the camp. Sparrowtail rushed after her and let out a call to a surrounding patrol made up of several black and brown cats. Sweetsong smiled as her gaze fell upon Nightdapple making the final stretch towards the duo. The HazelClan deputy had been her best friend even from when they were just kits, wandering aimlessly into their new lives as apprentices. The she-cat's black pelt was dappled with gray specks that seemed to glisten like metallic rocks.

She broke through the belt of trees and rushed into the river's surrounding meadow. "Sweetsong! What happened?" She franticly ran her tongue over Sweetsong's ears to dry her. Instead, the pale warrior just shook her away. "I'm fine, Nightdapple, really. I'll just go back to camp and get these cuts fixed... Someone attacked me..." Nightdapple broke into a trot all of the way up the hill and then sprinted down the slop towards the HazelClan forest. Redwoods rose around them as they moved along, downwards from the climax of the river. Stones jutted from the rocks as the group neared a two-leg bridge. It was tattered with only a few planks intact with the rickety frame. The bridge ended next to a vacant water-wheel and a lumber mill next to a pile of rotting wood. They continued past an abandoned mine shaft which poked a hole in the steep cliffs until a piles of granite came into view.

"We're here!" Nightdapple lifted her head and let out a faint purr. Sparrowtail also looked relieved, giving one last lick to Sweetsong's cheek. She began blushing.

"T-thanks, Sparrowtail."

The brown tom nudged her towards the medicine cat's den. "You should go to Gingerleaf. She should help."

The thick scents of herbs wafted from the large burrow. A plate of rock several fox-lengths wide rested above a giant open passage a fox-length deep. Light filtered through a veil of ivy which tickled Sweetsong's nose as she entered. A rust-colored she cat turned around, her bright blue eyes glistening.

"Oh, hello, Sweetsong! You look like a drowned rat! Go and get into one of the nests. I'll bring moss to dry you up."

The medicine cat shoved a pile of lilac towards Sweetsong and she took a whiff. Suddenly, it was as if a fog went over her. Fatigued, she collapsed in the dug-out nest piled with bird feathers and felt a sheet of moss thrown over her. She nuzzled her chest fur before the world seemed to slip away and a single lilac was pawed to her nose as she slept.

_Okay, that's the first chapter! Review if you can! (I haven't even decided who did it, so you can send in ideas for that)_


End file.
